Shine on you crazy diamond

Dreams are crazy things. I don’t know about you but I keep a dream diary. My dreams are so vivid that sometimes I wonder if I’m living this life – or living life in an alternate universe and this is the dream.

I occasionally read about people who create books and art and music based on their dreams. I’ve put a few below that I’ve plucked off the top of my head (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong or add any famous ones I’ve left out).

Sting dreamed of blue turtles and named his first album Dream of the Blue Turtles

Paul McCartney’s song Yesterday came from a dream

Mary Shelley dreamed of Frankenstein

Robert Louis Stevenson dreamed of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Stephen King dreamed of woman who held a writer prisoner – hence Misery

And the list goes on…

I’m certainly not in the same league as the people above, but most of my stories come from dreams.

I wrote The Everything Theory after a dream where I found a diamond in the desert that turned into a book with strange symbols on the cover. When I opened the book it only contained five words – find out what it means.

I wrote The Eleventh Question after a dream where a man kept asking me a question and telling me I had to remember it. He even made me write the question in the sand with a stick so I would remember. When I woke up I couldn’t remember it!!! (Good grief – that was annoying!)

But I’m not going to take up this entire post with my weird dreams. I want to know if you have been inspired by dreams – and if you have any thoughts on what they might actually mean.

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I’ve written a song from my dream. I didn’t remember the whole thing, but just one catchy bit thankfully. I’m always dreaming tho, sometimes remembering 4 a night, so it’s kinda hard to keep track of it all, but the important ones usually stick out.

This is synchronistic – having just mentioned dreams in my comment on your previous post. For me dreams are very valuable – when I can remember them! I have been recording my dreams for many years and find them most useful in correcting me and giving me an indication of what may lie ahead for me. I have read much about dreams from Freud to Jung and the latter is clear about interpreting the images in our dreams – not literal events – but as an indication of future paths for us. Some of Jung’s dream interpretations are uncannily accurate in forecasting events to come. If you have read his autobiography ‘Memories, Dreams and Reflections’ you will have an idea of his approach. Again, I say: Too valuable to ignore.

It’s nice you have a dream diary – good ideas won’t get lost to time and forgetfulness.
And probably I overwork my subconscious so it doesn’t give me anything valuable.
Come to think of it, my favourite childhood book was written by Pierre Grippari, and before the actual story begins, there’s a story of a Muse and a Writer, who saw this Muse in a dream as she told him the story. He wanted to write it down as soon as he woke up, but lazy as he was, didn’t come around to doing so until poor creature was on the brink of death. So you are very right to be writing things down 😉

Yes – I sleep with a note pad next to my bed.Every couple of years I read back over them and have a bit of a giggle – they really bring back memories that I would never have had if I didn’t write them down 🙂

Thank you for reminding me that Frankenstein started with Shelley dreaming of it 🙂 It’s my favorite classic.
I’m quite intrigued by your dreams, Miss Diane. Especially the five words. I must say that you’re an introspective type of person. 🙂
The way I look at dreams is largely influenced by studying Psychology. So for me it ranges from simple things done the previous days to unconscious desires. This day I actually dreamed again of stairs. It’s confusing, though. So I let it pass 😀

When I was young and in uni I was in a class with a lecturer who wanted us to meditate before starting the days lesson. She had us close our eyes and imagine we were walking down a dark staircase. The outcome was to find out what was deep within our souls. So I don’t think walking down is necessarily a bad thing 🙂

Those who were seeking practical methods toward remembering more of their dreams can benefit by learning more about topics like “Lucid Dreaming” and the Aboriginal (also Zen) concepts, where it’s asserted that the existence we have in dreams is the “real” one, and what we are doing HERE is the “dream”. One easy method is hypnotic auto-suggestion. As you become sleepy, tell yourself mentally, verbally, “When I wake up, I will remember my dreams.” With repeated practice it works very well.

I love this topic. Sometimes I am facing hard truths asleep that I’m afraid to do awake, and sometimes I’m providing entertainment programming for myself. Yesterday I dreamed I was on a cruise ship, put on a dress for laughs, and then was pursued romantically by William Shatner! My wife asked what I thought it meant. I was still giggling and I said “Don’t put on a dress near William Shatner. He’ll go after anything.” Symbolically viewed, it’s the balance of my own inner male and female natures. I’m wearing the dress, and I’m also Shatner (a satyr), and a good time is to be had by all in the chase.

Love this post! I have had some dreams that are so literal it’s crazy. I should keep a dream journal and there are some I have written down. Once, in a dream, I had written an important note to myself on the palm of my left hand, a name of someone I was looking for. The dream woke me up and as I scribbled it out on paper to remember the key points and sequence, I looked down at my left hand to see the name I needed to write down and remember and I was shocked that there was nothing written on my hand! I was able to remember the name though, and wrote it on my notes!
Great post today, such an intriguing topic!

It certainly does pay to pay attention to dreams! I just ordered the kindle version of your book The Everything Theory. And am looking forward to reading it. I have two pages left in the book I’m reading now and I wondered what I would read next so The Everything Theory it is. My brain, Peanuts, is big on dreaming silly phrases. One was “I love you Hearth Burl” and another one was “Goats on the skids. I’m going to program Peanuts to dream an idea for a book though! That’s much better!

Specific dreams haven’t entered my work, but they are part of the framework for one WIP. The main character believes that vivid dreams, for example, really are glimpses of our lives in alternate universes. Now if I can just finish the other WIP first and start shopping it, I can get on more revisions to her story!

Fascinating. Would you believe that I hardly ever dream anything, or if I do I have no recall of it. Not much hope for me as a writer then 😦
Thanks for the comment on my ‘male feminist’ post on Romanian women. I just took an early morning walk to buy a fish for dinner (a 2kg carp); if I were a young man I’d be in trouble.

I’m waiting to see your fish!
Here in Romania you can in fact catch one to eat (the river Prut is not far away and they can reach 25kg (50lbs) or more there). In the UK they are caught only for sport and several eastern Europeans have been arrested for taking them. They can’t understand it – they fish to eat – and I sympathise with them. But I’m not a fisherman.

I should keep a dream journal. I used to, but got super lazy. Most of my dreams, that I remember, are where I am running or escaping or something and usually it is quite dramatic. The one I remember the best (because I wrote it down) was where my little brother and I were running away from something, and then a bi-plane came zooming along a la red baron and starting shooting at us with a machine gun. I pushed him away at the last second and got shot up my body. I woke up to tingles in the spots I was shot. Which was scary. I always thought of it as a mama bear thing coupled with older sister martyrdom. LOL

I have very vivid dreams as well and I love it! Sometimes they’re extremely strange, okay – most of the time. But one in particular that I had recently inspired the entire idea for one of my two current WIPs. Its amazing to me how strange yet creative the subconscious can be. I love it! I think its very cool that you incorporate your dreams in your novels.

LOL Of course you’re allowed to ask. Actually, I’m working on that. A couple of bloggers have asked if I’m going to do any sort of post on what my two WIPs are on. I’m still trying to figure out what on earth to say.
I’m working on the elevator pitch (logline) for both WIPs right now, then I’m going to post them. After that, I’ll figure out what else I want to expose. I just don’t know where to draw that line of letting on – what to tell, what not to tell. Ya know?
Thanks for your interest!

For me, the most interesting dreams are the ones that incorrectly combine people and experiences from my past. This week, my dream included a previous supervisor from a coffee shop in Arizona, a new job here in Portland not at all related to coffee, and one of the places we stayed when we travelled to Turkey this May. Nothing fits quite right in dreams, and yet this feels entirely normal and even expected.

I’m fascinated by dreams. They seem so bizarre to my conscious mind, but they often have seeds based in reality. Unfortunately, if I dream regularly, I don’t remember them, so I have to settle for reading about others’ dreams.

Hi Tiffany – they have pages on my blogs. I’m not very technical, but think I have pictures of them on the right side of my page. If you click on them they will take you to Amazon for more information 🙂

I was just linked here by a follower who saw my post on writing stories based off my dreams.

Mine are also quite vivid, and I can also lucid dream which helps stop dreams getting silly. I also dream music often – basically, I think my subconscious is a hundred times more creative than my awake self haha.

I’m terribly behind in my blog reading, but trying to catch up! I always find it fascinating when people regularly remember their dreams, because I almost never remember mine! In fact, I don’t remember my dreams to the point that when I DO remember one, it kinda freaks me out! LOL!

This is too bizarre! Last night I dreamed of a book idea. I’m a journalist, not an author and all my writing life people have encouraged me to write a book, but I never felt it. The idea that came in my dream is nothing extraordinary and actually against my beliefs, but it’s so vivid like someone was channeling me. And first thing I read this morning was your blog! Maybe this is an omen that I should write this crazy book. I have so much on my plate as it is, but I should probably go with it.

That’s so cool that you write books from your dreams. You make it sound easy, so thanks for the inspiration 🙂

I did dream journaling for years, in order to remember them more clearly. Eventually I started Morning Pages and found dreams became short stories quite readily! It’s a rich vein of images, places and adventure for me. Last night I was prowling through a hospital ward for very ill children, and deeply moved by their suffering. Enough to distract me from my nefarious errand. What was that? I’ve forgotten!

Phew, this provoked a good response! Now what was I going to say now that I’m down here? (apart from thanking you for the follow). I really don’t remember dreams except those scarey ones that you can’t get out of your head for days. Usually I’ve done, or not done, something awful, or something unspeakable has happened to someone I love. Bad times!

I have those dreams too … sometimes whole movie plots with full technicolor and sound effects, starring people I’ve never met in places I’ve never been. Have you ever had a very good friend that dream with you? I have a friend who dreamed of me when she was a child and we had never met. Now, we often have the same dreams at the same time. I do not try to explain it.

Absolutely, Dianne! Most of my stuff is also “conceived” in dreams – and these which isn’t directly from ‘dream-o-sphere’ are also from middle world between me and the outer reality (or – above it…) i don’t know how exactly to explain it, but i do know that you know lol!

I know exactly what you mean, Ruth! I had one of those today when I started to fall asleep on a plane (which is something I never do because I hate flying!). I found myself in a world where no one aged (long story) and I knew all the characters and their strengths and weaknesses and their fates. I opened my eyes and said to my hubby ‘I’ve just dreamed a whole story between waking and sleeping!’ and he just gave me a really strange look. Oddly enough, I’d completely forgotten about it until I read your comment. Thank you so much!!! 😀

The book I’m working on now (The Trial of Trudy Castor) came entirely from a dream. Well maybe not entirely because the setting is a familiar place–from the stories of my bootlegging grandfather. But the plot and the characters are from the dream. I woke up and wrote it down–this will be a first for me. The other two books came from that meditative state I have when I paint (rooms, not paintings.)